Rugby World Cup 2012 - Page 5

Wales are my underdogs, and no body is ratings them as they don't know the players. Best of luck Wales

October 13th, 2011

bulldogg

Quote:

Originally Posted by dougal

Wales are my underdogs, and no body is ratings them as they don't know the players. Best of luck Wales

Support Wales, support the planet mate!
BTW good to see you posting again cobber.

October 15th, 2011

Warwick

Not a bad game last night, full credit to france for holding of an aggresive Wales attacl in the last half of the game.
I think the outcome would have been very different if Wales hadn't lost their Captain and that huge hairy fellow at the start!!!
Now for the Australia NZ match...................

--

October 15th, 2011

MontyB

I think the game was ruined by an officious decision (I wont say bad as the offence was a red card offence but I am not sure he needed to apply it) and it concerns me that a large number of games are being decided by the referees now.

As for the NZ/Aus match my call remains the same Australia to win by less than 10 as much as I would love New Zealand to get up and win it (which they can) I just don't think they have the gas left in the tank to do so, too many injuries through out the cup that have prevented the team from being able to gel properly.

There is however a a bit of me that really hopes NZ hammer Australia in this game that did not exist at the start of this tournament and it has been encouraged by this sort of idiocy...

THE All Blacks had lunch yesterday with the New Zealand team that won the 1987 World Cup. Ambulances stood by in case any of the current lot of players choked.

Well why not? Over the past 24 years the Kiwis' pursuit of the game's most prestigious trophy has been like a Wonderbra. Plenty of support but no visible cup.

Every four years since that first and last victory the country has held its collective breath as the All Blacks have approached the World Cup finals, and every four years the team, and the country, has fallen over in a dead faint.

They're the biggest chokers since the Boston Strangler.

There was 1991, when the Wallabies carved them up in the semi-final in Dublin, 1995 when South Africa rolled them in the final in Johannesburg and four years later at Twickenham the French took a turn, running them ragged 43-31 in the semi.

In 2003 the Wallabies made it two from two with a semi-final win in Sydney and four years ago, in the darkest day in New Zealand's World Cup history, the Graham Henry-coached All Blacks didn't even make the final four, going down 20-18 to France at Cardiff.

The Kiwis went into national mourning. The gag writers had a field day.

What's the difference between a tea-bag and the All Blacks? A tea bag stays in the cup longer.

What do you call 15 guys sitting around the TV watching the Rugby World Cup final? The All Blacks.

What's the difference between Graham Henry and Viagra? At least Viagra gives you a semi.

Why did Graham Henry go to the ball dressed as a pumpkin? Because he hoped when the clock struck 12 he would turn into a coach.

Did you hear NZ Post has just recalled their latest batch of stamps? They had photos of All Blacks on them and people couldn't figure out which side to spit on.

And those were the nice ones. Now it's on again. The All Blacks are in the finals and the wheels are falling off.

It's like that movie The Perfect Storm. In a combination of freak occurrences and un-natural phenomena, the Kiwis have gone from a well-oiled machine to a rusty trike.

In the lead-up to this tournament all little New Zealanders went to bed with the same prayer, "God bliss Mum and Did, and don't lit anything hippen to Dan Carter or Ruchie McCaw, eh men."

With Carter's replacement Colin Slade limping off into the distance never to return on Sunday night, insurance premiums for five-eighths in New Zealand have gone through the roof.

Fullback Mils Muliaina has done his shoulder and the selectors have sent a search party trawling the bars of Auckland trying to find his back-up Israel Dagg who was last seen heading off on a pub crawl with winger Cory Jane.

When those two had to be dragged out of a pub before last weekend's uninspiring quarter-final win over Argentina, an official was overhead telling a journalist, "Oh he drinks to get over having that name."

"Who does?" asked the journalist - "Both of them."

And with every injury, indiscretion and exploding five-eighth, the pressure has increased. This country doesn't just want the All Blacks to win the World Cup, they expect it.

Every second house, car, shop, stroller, wheelchair (I kid you not) has an All Blacks flag attached.

There's a Westfield shopping centre two blocks from the team hotel. Along its two-street frontage is an enormous advertising banner, bearing individual pictures of the players in action.

The poor buggers can't even open the curtains in their rooms without seeing 10m high photos of themselves in heroic poses.

Well I didn't see that one coming, clearly the coaching staff had put a lot of thought into that game and the plan came off well although the amount of blood spilt by both sides indicates a very hard fought match.

I really have no idea why Australia didnt replace Cooper with Barnes early on either.

Now to wait and see what French team shows up next week, part of me hopes it is the bloody awful one that played Wales but I suspect it will be the one that causes us grief every 4 years.

Either way my number 1 and 2 choices made the finals so I will be happpy with any result.

October 16th, 2011

mmarsh

Quote:

Originally Posted by MontyB

New Zealand 20
Australia 6

Well I didn't see that one coming, clearly the coaching staff had put a lot of thought into that game and the plan came off well although the amount of blood spilt by both sides indicates a very hard fought match.

I really have no idea why Australia didnt replace Cooper with Barnes early on either.

Now to wait and see what French team shows up next week, part of me hopes it is the bloody awful one that played Wales but I suspect it will be the one that causes us grief every 4 years.

Either way my number 1 and 2 choices made the finals so I will be happpy with any result.

Hate to say I told so mate,...but "TOLD YA SO"!

And as a bonus, odds here are 100-1 we get our ass totally kicked next week.

October 16th, 2011

MontyB

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmarsh

Hate to say I told so mate,...but "TOLD YA SO"!

And as a bonus, odds here are 100-1 we get our ass totally kicked next week.

Yeah maybe you did but I am not prepared to write of France yet, they can be an awesome team if they choose to play well the problem is that getting them to play well is one of the worlds most random events.

I honestly hope the game is close and as a Kiwi I hope we win of course but I would not be disappointed to lose in a good game to France and in many ways seeing the cup go to a team that hasn't won it before would have many advantages for the game world wide.

Something to remember France has beaten us twice in world cups when we were "destined" to win it so nothing is certain until the ref blows the final whistle.

Some Stats...

New Zealand v France
Games played:50
Games won by New Zealand:37 74.00%
Games lost by New Zealand: 12 24.00%
Games drawn:1 2.00%

Total points for New Zealand:1,234
Total points against New Zealand: 665
Average points for New Zealand per game:24.68
Average points against New Zealand per game:13.30
Average points difference per game between New Zealand and France:11.38

So while New Zealand has run up a fairly good record against France the games are always fairly close and by no means a sure thing.

October 17th, 2011

Warwick

Pretty shocking game......................... and have no idea why Quade Cooper is put on a pedestal!!!!
What a shocking first half of kicking by him......
Well..... good luck Kiwis you've certainly earned your spot, now put the icing on the cake!!!

October 17th, 2011

mmarsh

Quote:

Originally Posted by MontyB

Yeah maybe you did but I am not prepared to write of France yet, they can be an awesome team if they choose to play well the problem is that getting them to play well is one of the worlds most random events.

I honestly hope the game is close and as a Kiwi I hope we win of course but I would not be disappointed to lose in a good game to France and in many ways seeing the cup go to a team that hasn't won it before would have many advantages for the game world wide.

Something to remember France has beaten us twice in world cups when we were "destined" to win it so nothing is certain until the ref blows the final whistle.

Some Stats...

New Zealand v France
Games played:50
Games won by New Zealand:37 74.00%
Games lost by New Zealand: 12 24.00%
Games drawn:1 2.00%

Total points for New Zealand:1,234
Total points against New Zealand: 665
Average points for New Zealand per game:24.68
Average points against New Zealand per game:13.30
Average points difference per game between New Zealand and France:11.38

So while New Zealand has run up a fairly good record against France the games are always fairly close and by no means a sure thing.

You're in luck, this is not the team that has faced NZ in the past. For f**ks sake we had a 1 man advantage throughout most of the match against Wales and still couldn't score. Just How sad is that? (The Defense did a good job though). If it wasn't for terrible Welsh kicking we would have lost.

Yes France might still win, but ONLY if the All Blacks let them, or if someone they manage to get back to the level of play they were at BEFORE the tournament started.

October 17th, 2011

MontyB

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmarsh

You're in luck, this is not the team that has faced NZ in the past. For f**ks sake we had a 1 man advantage throughout most of the match against Wales and still couldn't score. Just How sad is that? (The Defense did a good job though). If it wasn't for terrible Welsh kicking we would have lost.

Yes France might still win, but ONLY if the All Blacks let them, or if someone they manage to get back to the level of play they were at BEFORE the tournament started.

One of the problems we face is that the NZ team were fired up for the game against Australia and we rarely see that level of intensity from the All Blacks so I am not sure they will have it in them to repeat that performance unless of course Quade Cooper discovers a French Grandparent.

My guess will be 25-15 to New Zealand unless of course France pulls one of its famous Houdini acts (as they have done a couple of times in recent years) then 30-20 to France.

I do not believe France will win as long as New Zealand plays well but there is no guarantee they will.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warwick

Pretty shocking game......................... and have no idea why Quade Cooper is put on a pedestal!!!!
What a shocking first half of kicking by him......
Well..... good luck Kiwis you've certainly earned your spot, now put the icing on the cake!!!

I wouldn't call it shocking Australia were never allowed to get into the game but outside of Cooper I can't name one player that played badly.

Cooper on the other hand is a victim of his own making, oddly enough no one would have cared about his cheap shot on Richie McCaw but once he started selling himself as "public enemy number 1" he became it and then to wander around telling everyone he loved the attention seriously what was he expecting?
I will leave the last word on him to Nick Farr Jones, "Quade Cooper a 'boofhead' and says the first five-eighths apparent lack of respect for All Blacks captain Richie McCaw could come back to bite Australia."

I tend to rate him along the same lines as Sonny Bill Williams, they are talented at a level below international level and can not really step up but most of their "fame" is mass produced and not based on any tangible skill basically they are like the Kardashian's of world rugby, famous for being famous.

But that being said Australia has an excellent back line just replace Cooper with Barnes and it becomes world class, you would have to rate Genia and Beale as the best half back and full back in the game at the moment.

Pocock on the other hand could be a weakness as he is very much a one trick pony, he is great as slowing up the opposition ball and securing turnovers but is easily nullified by being forced into becoming the tackler at which point he cant touch the ball and if he does without first releasing and getting to his feet then he gets penalised as was demonstrated during the semifinal.

It will be interesting to see who makes the World XV in a couple of weeks.